Well November has commenced along with a small portion of frantic novel writing. Frantic as in could only manage 300 of the required 1700 words on the first day, so had to double efforts on day two. Can finally rest now there are just over 3400 words on the page.
For those of you not familiar with NanoWrimo it is an organised event, participated in by people worldwide, the idea of which is to write a novel in a month. To achieve this a minimum of 1700 words need to be written each day to produce a novel of just over 50,000 words.
I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out or even if I will have the creative energy to keep going for the whole month. But then I guess it is more a feat of stamina than of creative brilliance. The idea, I think, is to see if you can last the course rather than falling at the third chapter hurdle which hits so many of us would-be novelists. Well, doesn't it? Okay, maybe just me then.
I'm quite looking forward to day three now that I have smugly produced my required wordage for the last two days, however I wonder if the anticipation will begin to fade by the end of the week.
Having read through NanoWrimo's website I see that should you begin to suffer word block and feel you have exhausted all other creative avenues then you are recommended to write in a few zombies. Hmmm... that could be interesting. Bet that wouldn't have worked too well for the likes of Jane Austen.......
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Twitter - Short Cuts & Useful Tools
Twitter has gained a large portion of the social media market, with more than 10 million users. It is both addictive and an extremely useful tool in the right professional hands.
Because Twitter messages, known as 'tweets' are limited to just 140 characters, users need to convey sharp, precise messages and this, in turn, is less likely to bore their readers.
When you initially register for your Twitter account be sure to fill in all the details in your profile. It is also an advantage to upload a photo, or logo, as nothing points out a 'newbie' quicker than the default Twitter picture.
Unlike other social media where you acquire friends, on Twitter you will acquire 'followers'. As with other social media if you prove to be uninteresting, or unprofessional, you will lose followers. You can also follow others on Twitter by using the RSS feed, which is shown on the right side of any Twitterer's account page.
Twitter can be linked to your other social media sites.
Use the 'Find People' tab to find people you know, or use the 'Suggested Users' tab to find celebrities and others that Twitter recommends.
If you want to post a link to a web page and this takes you over the 140 character limit (and this includes spaces) you can use a url shortening site, such as tinyurl.com.
A hashtag - # - groups together related messages, or people. The site http://hashtags.org shows popular hashtags and has statistics relating to them.
Followers can send you direct messages which will show up on your home page. By clicking on the reply button you can send a direct message in response. However, for you to send a direct message to someone you must be following them.
The @ symbol followed by an account name is a link to the page held by that account. It is used as a way to send a public message, or to refer to that account holder on Twitter.
Retweets start with the letters RT and are simply messages that you repost. So if you see something interesting that has been posted and you would like all of your followers to see it as well, you can retweet. If you are retweeted a lot this is taken as a sign of respect on Twitter.
These are just a few of the common phrases and peculiarities of Twitter, much more advice can be found on the Twitter help pages which can be found at http://help.twitter.com. However, I hope this has, at least, given you a starting point.
Because Twitter messages, known as 'tweets' are limited to just 140 characters, users need to convey sharp, precise messages and this, in turn, is less likely to bore their readers.
When you initially register for your Twitter account be sure to fill in all the details in your profile. It is also an advantage to upload a photo, or logo, as nothing points out a 'newbie' quicker than the default Twitter picture.
Unlike other social media where you acquire friends, on Twitter you will acquire 'followers'. As with other social media if you prove to be uninteresting, or unprofessional, you will lose followers. You can also follow others on Twitter by using the RSS feed, which is shown on the right side of any Twitterer's account page.
Twitter can be linked to your other social media sites.
Use the 'Find People' tab to find people you know, or use the 'Suggested Users' tab to find celebrities and others that Twitter recommends.
If you want to post a link to a web page and this takes you over the 140 character limit (and this includes spaces) you can use a url shortening site, such as tinyurl.com.
A hashtag - # - groups together related messages, or people. The site http://hashtags.org shows popular hashtags and has statistics relating to them.
Followers can send you direct messages which will show up on your home page. By clicking on the reply button you can send a direct message in response. However, for you to send a direct message to someone you must be following them.
The @ symbol followed by an account name is a link to the page held by that account. It is used as a way to send a public message, or to refer to that account holder on Twitter.
Retweets start with the letters RT and are simply messages that you repost. So if you see something interesting that has been posted and you would like all of your followers to see it as well, you can retweet. If you are retweeted a lot this is taken as a sign of respect on Twitter.
These are just a few of the common phrases and peculiarities of Twitter, much more advice can be found on the Twitter help pages which can be found at http://help.twitter.com. However, I hope this has, at least, given you a starting point.
Saturday 3 April 2010
Home Based Business - Will it Work for You?
Presumably if you are reading this then you are trying to decide if a home based business is for you. What does it take? Do you have the right resources? How are people successfully working from home now?
I have worked at home for many years and understand some of the concerns that you may have as I've already been there and worked through most of them. The first thing you need is to have the motivation and an idea.
If you already know what you want to do then you have already jumped the first hurdle! If not, then you need to start researching. There is no shortcut to this and your success depends on how well you conduct your research and match any potential opportunities to your needs.
There are a wealth of opportunities out there which all offer differing rewards. Decide what you hope to gain from working from home and make yourself a list of criteria. This should include the time you have available (how many hours a day, what time of the day, how many days of the week), the resources you have available (telephone access, computer access, childcare help, support network etc) and the finance you have to put into your business.
Measure each opportunity against your list of criteria and disregard the ones that don't match up. Secondly you should never get involved with something that you are not 100% committed to. If you do, you will find that your enthusiasm dries up after a short time and you will struggle to find the motivation to continue when you face challenges. Ideally, the opportunity you settle with will match your interests and experience.
Finally, if you don't have all the skills required to make the opportunity work, look at what training is offered, or what training you could access in order to achieve those skills.
Once you have your opportunity in place look around at your home. Once you start working at home this will also become your office. In order not to get constantly distracted allocate yourself a usable room or at least a space that you can regard as your working area. If you are going to work from your kitchen table, that's fine, but when you start work each morning, clear the area and make it appear, to you, to be as business like as possible.
Whatever space you choose, you should have all the equipment you will need close at hand. This may include your computer, phone, pens/paper, notebook. If you are doubling up on a space in your home (ie. the kitchen table) keep the things you need in a box, or bag that can be taken out at the start of each working day.
Although it's okay to multi-task, if you are good at doing this, but avoid getting too distracted. It can get tempting to read the newspaper when it is delivered, or to switch the television on in the afternoon, but if you fall into this regularly you will not be giving yourself a fair chance of success. After all, if you were employed would you expect your employer to allow you to do this during working hours?
If you are used to being employed, or around a lot of people on a regular basis, then working from home can at first seem isolating. One way to combat this is to join online forums and make friends with people in your chosen industry. Or find a mentor that you can call on to encourage you along your path. If you feel that loneliness could be a barrier for you, then prepare for it so as not to find yourself spending more time during the day talking to friends or family than you are working.
I am often asked about the tax implications of working from home and this can be easily answered. If you are based in the UK you will need to register as self-employed with the Inland Revenue within your first three months of trading or receive a fine. Your first day of trading is usually taken as the day you make your first sale. You will then need to submit a Tax Return each year, which is issued in April and needs to be filed with the Revenue by the following 31st January. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, don't be tempted to fill the return in yourself, but use an accountant.
That should cover all the basics that you need to work from home with some degree of success and I hope that you have found the information helpful.
I have worked at home for many years and understand some of the concerns that you may have as I've already been there and worked through most of them. The first thing you need is to have the motivation and an idea.
If you already know what you want to do then you have already jumped the first hurdle! If not, then you need to start researching. There is no shortcut to this and your success depends on how well you conduct your research and match any potential opportunities to your needs.
There are a wealth of opportunities out there which all offer differing rewards. Decide what you hope to gain from working from home and make yourself a list of criteria. This should include the time you have available (how many hours a day, what time of the day, how many days of the week), the resources you have available (telephone access, computer access, childcare help, support network etc) and the finance you have to put into your business.
Measure each opportunity against your list of criteria and disregard the ones that don't match up. Secondly you should never get involved with something that you are not 100% committed to. If you do, you will find that your enthusiasm dries up after a short time and you will struggle to find the motivation to continue when you face challenges. Ideally, the opportunity you settle with will match your interests and experience.
Finally, if you don't have all the skills required to make the opportunity work, look at what training is offered, or what training you could access in order to achieve those skills.
Once you have your opportunity in place look around at your home. Once you start working at home this will also become your office. In order not to get constantly distracted allocate yourself a usable room or at least a space that you can regard as your working area. If you are going to work from your kitchen table, that's fine, but when you start work each morning, clear the area and make it appear, to you, to be as business like as possible.
Whatever space you choose, you should have all the equipment you will need close at hand. This may include your computer, phone, pens/paper, notebook. If you are doubling up on a space in your home (ie. the kitchen table) keep the things you need in a box, or bag that can be taken out at the start of each working day.
Although it's okay to multi-task, if you are good at doing this, but avoid getting too distracted. It can get tempting to read the newspaper when it is delivered, or to switch the television on in the afternoon, but if you fall into this regularly you will not be giving yourself a fair chance of success. After all, if you were employed would you expect your employer to allow you to do this during working hours?
If you are used to being employed, or around a lot of people on a regular basis, then working from home can at first seem isolating. One way to combat this is to join online forums and make friends with people in your chosen industry. Or find a mentor that you can call on to encourage you along your path. If you feel that loneliness could be a barrier for you, then prepare for it so as not to find yourself spending more time during the day talking to friends or family than you are working.
I am often asked about the tax implications of working from home and this can be easily answered. If you are based in the UK you will need to register as self-employed with the Inland Revenue within your first three months of trading or receive a fine. Your first day of trading is usually taken as the day you make your first sale. You will then need to submit a Tax Return each year, which is issued in April and needs to be filed with the Revenue by the following 31st January. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, don't be tempted to fill the return in yourself, but use an accountant.
That should cover all the basics that you need to work from home with some degree of success and I hope that you have found the information helpful.
This article was written by Karen Turl who is an internet entrepreneur, UK tax accountant and published author. http://www.gothicdream.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Turl |
Home Based Businesses & Social Media
This article aims to give you the basics of social media for home based businesses and an introduction to social media itself.
Social media refers to sites that allow social interaction and focus on the building of friendship/follower networks. There are a growing number of these sites, each with their own characteristics, but the main sites are: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Squidoo. There are others and popularity rankings can change very quickly. For instance, MySpace was the most popular a few years ago, but has now been dwarfed by Facebook.
There are roughly two types of users on these sites, individuals and businesses. MySpace is popular with visual and recording artists, Twitter is popular with a whole range of businesses who are looking to network with new and existing customers and Facebook allows businesses to create their own business page.
All of these sites are user friendly and joining is not difficult for even the most techno-phobe amongst us. Once you have your profile, make sure that you include all the information that is required to make you appear both human and professional. Include a photo, if possible, as everyone likes to see who they are talking to! If you have a business, include a professional looking photo (not the one of you on a drunken night out with friends for example).
Most importantly, make sure that you write a good biography and include your website link and contact details such as an email address.
If you want to have a business page on Facebook you will need to create a personal profile first, then add a business page which will be linked. Friends from your personal profile can then sign up to become friends of your business page.
Squidoo can seem a little daunting at first as it operates slightly differently, however it is a great platform for letting the world know your area of expertise. It is a little like an article site, in that you provide factual information in the form of a 'lens'. You can include links, affiliations to various sites, photos and text. Plus the rankings on Google are reasonably good.
Once you are up and running you can add links from one site to the other so that you have one integrated network. Invite your friends/followers to join you on each of your other sites to increase your overall following.
When you start making posts don't be tempted to go for the hard sell. Nothing is more off-putting than a continual stream of spam and you will quickly lose your network if you do this. Instead, pass on useful information connected to your business, or industry. Provide useful links. Share quotations that made you feel inspired (remember to quote the source though). Allow people to get to know you and what you are about.
Build relationships with your network and it will pay dividends over time. Take an interest in the people that are interested in you. Comment on their posts and/or photos. Share, build rapport.
In summary, social media can provide a network of people that are interested in who you are and what you do. Used correctly it should be a valuable tool in your marketing efforts for many years to come.
Social media refers to sites that allow social interaction and focus on the building of friendship/follower networks. There are a growing number of these sites, each with their own characteristics, but the main sites are: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Squidoo. There are others and popularity rankings can change very quickly. For instance, MySpace was the most popular a few years ago, but has now been dwarfed by Facebook.
There are roughly two types of users on these sites, individuals and businesses. MySpace is popular with visual and recording artists, Twitter is popular with a whole range of businesses who are looking to network with new and existing customers and Facebook allows businesses to create their own business page.
All of these sites are user friendly and joining is not difficult for even the most techno-phobe amongst us. Once you have your profile, make sure that you include all the information that is required to make you appear both human and professional. Include a photo, if possible, as everyone likes to see who they are talking to! If you have a business, include a professional looking photo (not the one of you on a drunken night out with friends for example).
Most importantly, make sure that you write a good biography and include your website link and contact details such as an email address.
If you want to have a business page on Facebook you will need to create a personal profile first, then add a business page which will be linked. Friends from your personal profile can then sign up to become friends of your business page.
Squidoo can seem a little daunting at first as it operates slightly differently, however it is a great platform for letting the world know your area of expertise. It is a little like an article site, in that you provide factual information in the form of a 'lens'. You can include links, affiliations to various sites, photos and text. Plus the rankings on Google are reasonably good.
Once you are up and running you can add links from one site to the other so that you have one integrated network. Invite your friends/followers to join you on each of your other sites to increase your overall following.
When you start making posts don't be tempted to go for the hard sell. Nothing is more off-putting than a continual stream of spam and you will quickly lose your network if you do this. Instead, pass on useful information connected to your business, or industry. Provide useful links. Share quotations that made you feel inspired (remember to quote the source though). Allow people to get to know you and what you are about.
Build relationships with your network and it will pay dividends over time. Take an interest in the people that are interested in you. Comment on their posts and/or photos. Share, build rapport.
In summary, social media can provide a network of people that are interested in who you are and what you do. Used correctly it should be a valuable tool in your marketing efforts for many years to come.
This article was written by Karen Turl who is an internet entrepreneur, UK tax accountant and published author. http://www.gothicdream.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Turl |
Do You Have A Work At Home Business Idea?
So, if you are reading this you either have an existing idea for a home based business or you are still looking. Let's start with those of you that are in the still looking stage. If you enter a search into Google you will see page after page of websites all promoting their opportunity to you and this can take weeks of research to trawl through. Each will tell you that their opportunity is better than the next, so if you are going to go down this route do your research. Search each company individually, both on Google and other platforms including YouTube.
However, a better place to start, in my opinion, is with one of the home working forums. Take a look around the forum postings board and talk to people. There are plenty of people there only too willing to give you advice on which business opportunity could be right for you based on your interests and experience.
What should I look for in a home based business opportunity?
Well, basically that depends on what you ultimately want. Some people just want to make a small income to fit around existing commitments, others may want complete financial freedom, others may be looking for a community to which they feel they can belong. Once you decide what you want, concentrate on this and then evaluate each opportunity that comes to you. The question to ask is 'will this bring me what I want?'
Is the business opportunity I've found a scam?
There are many genuine opportunities out there but they sometimes get lost amongst the crowd of scam websites. If you are at all concerned there are a number of forums and websites based on home based scams and also information offered from reputable sources such as the page by Stirling council which can be found at http://www.stirling.gov.uk/index/business/tradingstandards/ts-scams.htm. Basically, I would strongly advise you to steer away from the envelope stuffing, or data entry type opportunities.
There is no substitute for adequate research before you embark on your business idea. There are genuine opportunities out there but make sure you have found one of them. Once you have found something you feel is right for you and will bring you what you hope to gain, then make sure that you are fully prepared to make a work from home business work.
However, a better place to start, in my opinion, is with one of the home working forums. Take a look around the forum postings board and talk to people. There are plenty of people there only too willing to give you advice on which business opportunity could be right for you based on your interests and experience.
What should I look for in a home based business opportunity?
Well, basically that depends on what you ultimately want. Some people just want to make a small income to fit around existing commitments, others may want complete financial freedom, others may be looking for a community to which they feel they can belong. Once you decide what you want, concentrate on this and then evaluate each opportunity that comes to you. The question to ask is 'will this bring me what I want?'
Is the business opportunity I've found a scam?
There are many genuine opportunities out there but they sometimes get lost amongst the crowd of scam websites. If you are at all concerned there are a number of forums and websites based on home based scams and also information offered from reputable sources such as the page by Stirling council which can be found at http://www.stirling.gov.uk/index/business/tradingstandards/ts-scams.htm. Basically, I would strongly advise you to steer away from the envelope stuffing, or data entry type opportunities.
There is no substitute for adequate research before you embark on your business idea. There are genuine opportunities out there but make sure you have found one of them. Once you have found something you feel is right for you and will bring you what you hope to gain, then make sure that you are fully prepared to make a work from home business work.
This article was written by Karen Turl who is an internet entrepreneur, UK tax accountant and published author. http://www.gothicdream.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Turl |  |
Friday 2 April 2010
Appointed Expert
I was very pleased to receive not one, but two emails today regarding my appointment as approved expert. The first was from Allexperts.com where questions can be posed to a range of different industry experts. The second was from the article submission site Ezinearticles.com.
A good day.
A good day.
Rogue Review Sites
You have to be surprised at the antics of some internet marketers. Only today I discovered yet another site which purported to be the official site of an internet trading standards body. It was written by a doctor, which immediately gave some credibility to it.
The gist of the site was that it was working hard to identify work-from-home scams and, in its efforts to do so, had discovered only three internet opportunities which were genuine and would provide a modest to very good income.
Now this chap could have got away with this rather devious (not to mention downright misleading) practice, were it not for the fact that the site looked like it was written by an internet marketer. It had elements of the hard sell in it, which would not be supported by any genuine watchdog body.
And the opportunities themselves? Do your homework folks, that's all I can say.
Karen Turl
www.midasplatinum.com
The gist of the site was that it was working hard to identify work-from-home scams and, in its efforts to do so, had discovered only three internet opportunities which were genuine and would provide a modest to very good income.
Now this chap could have got away with this rather devious (not to mention downright misleading) practice, were it not for the fact that the site looked like it was written by an internet marketer. It had elements of the hard sell in it, which would not be supported by any genuine watchdog body.
And the opportunities themselves? Do your homework folks, that's all I can say.
Karen Turl
www.midasplatinum.com
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